Thanks for taking the time to read The Daily Times' 2014 Election Guide, which was designed to provide information that will help people choose the candidates that will best represent them.

This year, 18 candidates are running for municipal offices in Farmington, Bloomfield and Aztec. We asked each of them for some personal information and short statements on their platforms and what they think are the biggest issues facing their community.

We also have summarized the four contested races in the tri-city area.

Who's running

In Farmington, nine people are running for office. Four of the races — those for mayor, the District 4 seat, full-time municipal judge and part-time municipal judge— are contested.

Incumbent Tommy Roberts and challenger Matt Dodson are competing for mayor. Nate Duckett and Debra Mayeux are vying for the District 4 council seat, currently held by Jason Sandel who is not running for reelection.

Bill Liese and Rena Scott are running for municipal judge, and Bill Standley and James Rowland are running for part-time municipal judge.

In uncontested races, incumbent Councilor Gayla McCulloch is running for the District 3 council seat.

In Aztec, four people are running for office, and only one of the races — the seat for District 2 — is contested. In that contest, incumbent Sally Burbridge is running against Joe Hubbard for the District 2 seat.

Meanwhile, Katee McClure and Sheri Rogers are running uncontested for the District 4 and District 5 seats, respectively.

Aztec runs on the commission-manager form of government. Commission members vote after the election to appoint the mayor.

And in Bloomfield, five residents are throwing their hats into the ring. Scott Eckstein is seeking a third term as mayor. His race — as well as that of DeLaws Lindsay and J. Elwin Roark who are running for city council seats — are uncontested.

The sole contested race is for municipal judge. In that race, Marlon Maloy is running for re-election against challenger Kristi Philips.